You’re not in the money…

In our poll we asked Glasstire readers “How can the Obama administration best help the arts?”

Among various options, “Launch WPA-style arts projects” came in first and “Bigger budget for the NEA” came in dead last.

Bigger NEA budget it is! The version of the economic stimulus package that passed in the house last week included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. Of course, during the Jesse Helms years, congress prohibited the NEA from giving individual grants to artists – at least the kinds of artists whose work could involve pee pee and Jesus. If you are a folk artist, writer, jazz musician or opera singer, you could be in the money. Visual artists, not so much…

But don’t start counting your chickens before they hatch, dulcimer makers, at present the Senate version of the bill doesn’t have anything for the NEA.

Kelly Klaasmeyer, a former editor of Glasstire, is an artist and writer. She was selected as a Fellow for the 2009 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program and was the recipient of a 2009 Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. She lives in Houston for the fresh air and Alpine scenery.